Oxlade-Chamberlain says Coutinho doesn’t need to prove anything as he defends ex-Liverpool team-mate

ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN has jumped to the defence of his former Liverpool team-mate Philippe Coutinho.

Coutinho has ended a miserable spell at Barcelona by completing a loan move to Bayern Munich for the rest of the season.

The 27-year-old flopped at the Nou Camp having been bought in a £145million deal to replace Neymar.

But despite being shipped out on loan after failing to make an impact in Spain, Oxlade-Chamberlain says his old team-mate has to prove nothing to his critics.

After he completed his move to Germany this week, BT Sport made a social media post which asked “Can Philippe Coutinho prove the haters wrong at Bayern Munich?”

Liverpool star took to Instagram to immediately reply: “He doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone.”

The midfielder has since deleted his message, although not before it was made obvious just how much faith he has in his old friend.

And it is not the first time the England star has gone public with his backing of the player.

Back in December 2017, amid mounting speculation Coutinho was on the verge of leaving Anfield, Oxlade-Chamberlain interrupted his team-mate when he was being quizzed on TV over his future.

He said: “He’s a Liverpool player right now and he’s doing really well for us.

“He’s been the most professional person I’ve seen all season.

“He’s been top quality from the start and every time he is on the pitch he does his all for the club – that’s the most important thing right now.